Why is there a quota for the EB-5 visa program?

Why is there a quota that restricts the number of people who can apply for a green card through the EB-5 program? It seems like there are many more people who are able to afford the investment amount and who would want to get a green card through the program.

Answers

Every visa is subject to a quota, but the popularity of EB-5 means people pay more attention to it (the H-1B visa is also famously oversubscribed each year, subjecting applicants to a lottery and the risk the application will be returned with the filing fee check and all!).

Quotas exist in many visa categories, not just EB-5, and are set by Congress to control how many aliens may immigrate to the United States each year. Visa quotas are established per country per year. Currently, only nationals born in mainland China experience immigrant visa backlogs under the EB-5 program due to the high volumes of petitions filed.

The EB-5 quota system was set up by law enacted by Congress and it has been the law of the land since 1990. Currently, only 10,000 visas are available for EB-5 per year and it is even further divided among projects located in rural and urban areas. For all applicants, the same rule applies to everyone. Finally, it is a fact that there are far more people who want EB-5 who can meet the requirements from various countries.

John J Downey

Immigration Attorney

Answered onNovember 4, 2016

The quota does not relate as to how many people may participate, but rather how many visas are available under EB-5 for your country per year.

Simply put, there is an EB-5 visa quota because Congress established same when it enacted the program in 1990. Congress is unwilling to accept an unlimited number of applicants for lawful permanent residency and except for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, all of the employment-based and family-based classifications have quotas. Logically, the quota limitation may not make sense and in fact, the quota should be increased and hopefully, it will be in the next Congress.

The quota exists for categories of employment-based immigration (1st preference, 2nd preference, etc.) as well as for those applying from certain countries (i.e., China, Mexico, etc.) that usually outnumber other countries in terms of volume of applicants from those countries. This to ensure that the opportunity to obtain immigrant visas ("green cards") are somewhat evenly distributed and not used up in one category/nationals, etc.

Almost every immigration program has a specific amount of visas allocated to it; that is one way for the governments to control the number of people that are allowed to immigrate under various programs. Proponents of the programs are lobbying to increase the EB-5 visa cap in order to capture more individual investors who are willing and able to participate in the program.

The quota is based upon the way the U.S. immigration laws are written. Congress, in representing the interests of the American people, historically has expressed its intention to protect American jobs and culture by artificially limiting the numbers of new immigrants into the United States. Every sovereign country has such immigration limits. In fact, in many ways, the United States is one of the most open countries when it comes to immigration. That said, limiting the number of investors and job creators coming into the country does not make much sense. Some Americans do not think it is right to allow foreigners to "buy green cards." Others are worried about fraud or money laundering. There are always competing interests and opinions in play in American politics and policy.

Congress sets rigorous levels. It has been over 25 years since these levels were set. For the EB-5 program, it is a total of 10,000 including derivatives, and since there are on average about three people in a family, the annual number of investor families admitted is about 3,000. The United States admits about 1 million immigrants annually, of which about 15 percent are based on employment skills in short supply and unique contributions, such as extraordinary accomplishment, or the very few for investment.

Yes, there are per country limits, like all other employment-based visas.

Add your comment

Use a Facebook account to add a comment, subject to Facebook's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your Facebook name, photo & other personal information you make public on Facebook will appear with your comment.